Ireland, I agree that the shooting of anybody by anybody is a step in the wrong ditection, namely, backward.

McG of Harlow, no I don't read An Poblacht's 'the deaths of thousands' as re Sept. 11 either. It refers to consequences of US actions & policies abroad. As to Sept. 11, Gerry Adams *claimed*, and *sounded* sincere to (gullible?) me, that he was personally very shaken by it, having visited the WTC not long before on one of his US tours (fundraising for "relief" y'know), and especially in light of the slaughter of hundreds of Irish-American firefighters of the historically-Green FDNY. / I dunno.

But I DO know, re terrorism, that it ain't so simple as: "...editorials and letters, saying essentially the same as that quote from An Phoblact, in mainstream publications...clearly have no sympathy at all for terrorism. They aren't seeking to excuse it..." No, this is a somewhat trickier question than that. The rhetorical model of "Of course I don't *condone* these actions, but I do UNDERSTAND them; we must realize there are are ROOT CAUSES here...", is often, I trust, straightforwardly & sincerely meant; but not always, I suggest. It *can* be a slippery slope, from the high moral ground of recognizing faults and mistakes in national policies, to blaming the collective victim halfway down the hill, to justifying the terror assault by the time one hits bottom.

I support a united Ireland. I know there are various root causes of the Troubles in the North. But when it comes to terrorist murder, by the Continuity IRA or the Red Hand Defenders or any others of the whole bloody lot: I do not condone it and I DO *NOT* UNDERSTAND IT. And anyone can explain it to me till the cows come home: I still WILL NOT "understand" it.

Fionn: good & cogent points. We also may differ on the Mideast issues; but as they say, reasonable people can disagree---and so can you & I! :)

I'm soft on the unionists too. The peaceful ones. They are There; it is their land too; THEY aren't responsible for the Plantation of Ulster by their ancestors, albeit they've benefitted; they are still the majority in the six counties (which, again, THEY did not gerrymander into existence, albeit they naturally like it that way); and---they are now losing power and status. That is a serious blow to any people anywhere. They need to be accomodated. Of course they also need to be accomodate-able, to cobble an awkward nonword. *I*'d like to hope they can be treated as *adults*. But, you (& member Ireland) know better than me, far away.